Merritt founded Vox|Optima in 2005, with Gary, James, JC, Andrea and Dan Ross. Three years later, she is comfortable characterizing the launch of her first business as “a bigger deal than coming in 3rd on a game show,” her previous claim to fame. With contracts in hand worth more than $13 million, she is not only out-earning contestants on Jeopardy! but also those on Millionaire, Deal or No Deal and Rock of Love 3. Having taken her first radio job at 14, become a Navy public affairs officer at 20, and founded her own business at 35, Merritt tends to get ahead of herself. She is nonetheless unassuming about Vox|Optima’s future: “There is no reason whatsoever for any client anywhere to ever hire any other PR firm, period.” Merritt’s unique telework business model has garnered wide interest from business press and potential clients (as well as would-be employees) and she was named the New Mexico SBA Veteran Business Champion for 2008. She lives outside of Albuquerque with her husband, a little red dog, and a fierce black cat.